A WOMAN charged with directing prostitution, running brothels and trafficking an asylum seeker into the State has been refused bail by the High Court. Mr Justice George Birmingham yesterday refused to grant bail to Charity Ajayioba (35), of no fixed abode.
Ms Ajayioba is facing charges of running a brothel in Sligo, four counts of directing prostitution at four addresses in Sligo and Longford, two counts of brothel-keeping in Sligo and a charge of trafficking a woman into the State at Dublin airport to seek asylum.
She denies all the charges.
She sought bail on grounds including that she could face a long period in custody before her trial is determined.
The DPP opposed her application for bail on grounds including that she represented a flight risk and might not appear at her trial.
Det Garda Sgt Frank McGrath told the court it was the State’s claim that Ms Ajayioba had lived at different addresses, used different names and had control of bank accounts through which substantial amounts of cash had passed.
He said that a deportation order was made against her in 2009 when she had failed to report to the Garda National Immigration Bureau as required.
Det Sgt McGrath accepted that Ms Ajayioba had said in interviews that she had been trafficked here and had worked as a prostitute to pay a debt to a woman in Italy for arranging her transport to Ireland.
Ms Ajayioba told the court that she herself was trafficked into Ireland where worked as a lapdancer and as a prostitute. She denied that she represented a flight risk and said she had no intention of leaving Ireland.
Ms Ajayioba, who is originally from Nigeria, said she had been in Ireland since 2001. She is married to an Irish man, from whom she is estranged.
She did not turn up at the immigration bureau because she did not want to be deported.
Her counsel told the court that while Ms Ajayioba, who has no previous convictions, did not have any money, a friend would be able to provide a surety of €1,000. She was prepared to live at an address approved by gardaí and would comply with any signing-on requirements.